        WHAT'S NEW IN TI99-PC VERSION 3.0.0 WITH RESPECT TO VERSION 2.5.0
        =================================================================
1)      "T" new command key to strip TIFILES header in Option 2.6 (Import files from DOS)
        ================================================================================        
        It's now possible to strip a TIFILES header from a TIFILES file being imported 
        from DOS, thus importing just the body of the file. This new command acts as any 
        TI-99/4A file transfer program over RS232 would (TELCO and the like). 
        These programs strip the TIFILES header when importing a file from DOS. 
        
        You can always use the new "T" command instead of the "C" command if you are not 
        sure if the file being imported really has or hasn't a TIFILES header. 
        As a matter of fact the new command key will always be automatically reset to "C" 
        if the file doesn't prove to have a real TIFILES header. 
        
        The only drawback you will experience is a slight slow down in performance, since 
        each file will now have to be checked to ascertain if there is indeed a TIFILES header. 
        This involves launching an external program for each file to be tested.      


2)      "K" Command key changed to "X" for Extracting in Option 2.6 (Import files from DOS)
        ===================================================================================
        An ARK file imported from DOS can be unArked before importing in Option 
        2.6. 
        The Command key for that purpose used to be "K". Now it has been changed to "X". 
        This way it's more logical, since it matches the command key used in option 1.6 
        (Extract files to DOS) for the same purpose. See also below, at point 3).

3)	"K" Command added for Collecting and Archiving files in Option 2.6 (Import files from DOS)
        ==========================================================================================
        Files collected for importing may be archived in an Archiver III way before 
        importing if they are marked with the "K" command. Only one archive file 
        will be created per session, containing all the files selected with the "K" 
        command. Make sure you don't add too many files, otherwise the ARK file just 
        created won't fit in the Disk Image File you have chosen. 
        
        The ARK file type (Compressed or Uncompressed) and the filename are at user's choice. 
        The files to be ARKed will be processed before all the others, even before those marked 
        with priority numbers ("0", "1", "2" and so on). In other words, the ARK file will surely 
        go to the first output Disk Image File you have selected. 
        
4) 	Append files to a populated disk in Option 2.6 (Import files from DOS)
        ======================================================================
        You can now add files to a populated disk when importing files from DOS. The output 
        Disk Image File will not necessarily have to be a new one. Select an existing 
        Disk Image File as an output disk and chose Append when prompted for Overwriting, 
        Skipping or Appending the existing disk. The new files will simply be added to the 
        existing ones and alphabetically reordered. 
        
        Duplicated file names will be automatically checked and resolved by adding a tilde 
        character "~", if needed, to the new file being added. 
        
        
5)      Deleting files and entire directories from a Disk Image File
        ============================================================
        It is now possible to delete files and directories in a Disk Image File. This 
        option is only active in all the TI Disk Directory (the green one) launched by 
        F5 key from any menu in Main Menu. These menus are very common and you can spot 
        this bottom note "F5-F6=TI-DOS listing" in them.
        
        Simply mark with a "D" any file or directory you want to delete. When you are through
        with your selection, hit "F6" key to proceed and confirm. All the selected files and 
	directories will be deleted and the freed disk sectors will be added to the free ones.
	
	This new command will work on both the V9T9 and the PC99 disk image files. 

6)	IMG format change. No sector error table if no reading error has occurred in Option 1.1
        =======================================================================================
	Due to popular demand, Option 1.1 (Transfer a TI-99/4A floppy disk to 
	TI99-PC disk image file) will not append any more a bad sector table 
	(3 sectors) at the end of the Disk Image File being created if no 
	reading error has occurred.
	Thus, a standard TI99-PC disk image file with no reading error will 
	be a true V9T9 disk image file.
	
	No need to make conversion, if reading was good. This new type
	of disk image file is perfectly compatible with previous versions 
	of TI99-PC. 
	
	This change of behavior is in TI99_PC.COM, the assembly low level
	program, starting from Kernel K. 302 (you can easily see this number 
	on the splash screen of that program). It goes without saying that 
	if a reading error occurs, the usual 3 sector bad sector table will 
	be added to the disk image file. 
	
7)      Fixed missing Bad Sector reporting
        ==================================
        Due to an error	in a previous version, some TI99-PC sub-programs 
        would not report any more the Bad Sector count. Thus, a Disk Image 
        File containing bad sectors would go undetected by most TI99-PC 
        sub-programs. 
        Fixed now!               
           
8)	Improved managing of a Disk Image File with bad FDRs
        ====================================================
        Up to now, a Disk Image File with a bad sector in the FDR (File
        Desctriptor Record) could not be handled by TI99-PC. An FDR is the sector
        that contains the name of the file, and other relevant file parameters. 
        A bad FDR would crash any TI99-PC program that attempted to access 
        that Disk Image File. Thus, no transferring, no splitting, no conversion
        was possibile. A bad FDR can strike while reading a faulty TI Floppy Disk
        (Option 1.1), if the reading error occurs on the sector that contains
        the FDR. 
        
        Now a Disk Image File with a bad FDR can be managed, although to 
        a limited extent. The only thing you should do is to get rid at once 
        of the file with a bad FDR. 
        
        Thus, delete the bad FDR file with the Delete option of the Main Menu 
        TI Directory (F5 from most of the menus). Although the Delete option 
        usually frees the used sectors that belong to the deleted file, in 
        this particular case you will not be able to free the used sectors 
        of this special file.
        
        To finally fix the Free/Used sectors, copy the obtained Disk Image 
        File with Split option (option 1.7) into a new Disk Image File as 
        soon as you can. The new disk image file will be perfect.
        
        Any other attempt may lead to unpredictable results, and should 
        therefore be avoided.
        
        A file with a bad FDR can be easily spotted on any TI99-PC catalog 
        by having a name formed by 10 vertical bars, and having either no 
        length and no type or 47803 total sectors and an Int/Var 186 file 
        type or some crazy values anyway.
        The Err number that appears on the right is the FDR sector number.  
	
9)      Fixed Bugs in Option 2.6 (Import files from DOS)
        ===============================================
        A) Importing a normal file after importing and extracting an ARK file
           from a different directory would crash the program. 
           Fixed! (Sel.DArk left set to "K" by mistake in DOS2I1.BAS)
        B) Fixed wrong total size of files to be imported in DOS2I1.BAS
        C) Fixed "Subscript Out of Range" error when importing just one file in DOS2I3.BAS
       
10)   	Fixed Bug in Option 1.7 (Split a large disk image file)
        ======================================================
	There was an extra sector wrongly marked as used 
	In the Free/Used Sectors Bit Map in sector zero. 
	This happened in 1.44 MB disk image only. 

11)     Fixed Bug and Added "T" switch in "DECOMP4.COM" 
        ===============================================
        "DECOMP4.COM"  is an external assembler program used to decompress and catalog 
	an Archiver III compressed file. Uncompressed files got sometimes corrupted by this 
	program at offset 4096 from the file start. Reason: miscalculated file length. 
	Bug fixed.
	
	In the same program, the newly added "T" switch simply strips the TIFILES 
	header from an  Archiver III compressed file. This reflects the changes in 
	option Option 2.6 (Import files from DOS), see above at 1).

12)     Fixed "FILE ALREADY OPEN" error
        ===============================	
	Sometimes an annoying "File Already Open" error would show up. Fixed with a RESET command 
	added at the beginning of the MAIN02.BAS file, the main TI99-PC file. 
	Due to lack of time, I haven't been able to track down exactly where this error started. 
	This is simply a patch. I hope it won't create any additional problem to you. 
	
13)	Fixed CRManDAT.BAS
        ==================	
	CRManDAT.BAS is the QBasic program that creates the MANUAL.DAT help file 
	out of MANUAL.TXT file whenever TI99-PC doesn't find MANUAL.DAT file in 
	the TI99-PC install directory. The program was not really buggy, but somehow 
	"fragile". If the MANUAL.TXT file was carelessly modified (i.e. normal 
	lines longer than 76 characters	or Title Lines longer than 65 characters 
	were added) CRManDAT.BAS would have created a bad MANUAL.DAT file, which 
	would in turn crash TI99-PC when a help (F1) was requested by the user. 
	
	Some new controls have been added to CRManDAT.BAS. Lines longer than the 
	allowed length will issue an error and will be cut according to the needs.
	

	
	

	WHAT'S NEW IN TI99-PC VERSION 2.5.0 WITH RESPECT TO VERSION 2.2.2
        =================================================================
1)	    Added 80 Track DS/SD image file (and others) 
            ============================================
            Due to popular demand, new disk image file formats have been added, 
            the most important being the DS/SD 80 Track. The new formats will 
            be available in the following menu options: 
            a) - 1,6 - Extract (to DOS or ARK file) single TI-Files from TI99-PC 
                       disk image file
            b) - 1,7 - Split a large disk image file (from opt. 1) into smaller 
                       disk image files
            c) - 2,6 - Import Files from DOS or ARK files to a TI99-PC disk image 
                       file
            All the menu options that entailed actually writing and reading a 
            real TI floppy disk were already capable of handling DS/SD 80 Track. 
            
2)          Extended PC99 disk image file handling 
	    ======================================
	    No need any more to convert a PC99 DSK disk image file to native 
	    TI99-PC format prior to either Extracting to DOS (Option 1,6) or 
	    Splitting (Option 1,7). The PC99 file will be directly extracted 
	    or splitted as is. The splitted file will always be in the TI99-PC
	    (V9T9) format, though.
             	    	
3) 	    Added TI disk catalog in main menu 
            ==================================
	    F5 key (while the cursor is on the DOS filename input field on any 
	    main menu selection) now performs a catalog of any TI disk image file 
	    encountered (V9T9, PC99 or uncompressed Mess Hard Disk). 
	    F8 key (while you are on the catalog) will list the content of the 
	    ARK file the cursor is on. 
	    
	    The same holds true while you are on the DOS Navigator (you get on 
	    the DOS Navigator by pressing the F6 key on any main menu selection).
	    This is very handy; up to now you had to select the file and enter
	    the conversion program before you could see what was inside the TI 
	    disk image. 

4)	    You can add files to an existing disk image file (Splitting) 
            ===============================================================
	    In option 1,7 is now possible to split a disk image file over an 
	    existing disk image file without overwriting the existing files on 
	    the destination disk image file. The program will verify if the 
	    destination disk image file exists. 
	    
	    If so, the user will be asked whether he wants to Overwrite, Skip 
	    or Append to the existing disk image file. If Append is chosen, 
	    the new files coming from the disk image files being split will 
	    be simply added to the existing files on the destination disk 
	    image file. 
	    
	    Maybe I should change the name of this option, to better reflect 
	    the changed nature of it. Any suggestion about it? 
	 
5)	    ARK File Naming Problem while Extracting Solved
	    ===============================================
	    An ARK file can be extracted to DOS (option 1,6) as an archived
	    or an unarchived file. If archived, a simple DOS file with the 
	    same name will be created. If unarchived ("X" command key), a DOS 
	    directory with the name of the TI file will be created and all the 
	    files contained in the TI ARK file will be store in there. 
	    The user cannot change the name of the output file.
	    
	    A DOS naming problem arises when (in two sessions) you try to do both 
	    things, that is you try to extract an ARK file both as archived 
	    and unarchived. In the second session DOS will issue an error and crash
	    the program, saying that either it cannot create a new directory 
	    with the name of an existing file (if you first extracted the ARK file
	    as archived), or that it cannot create a file with the same name of 
	    an existing directory (if you first extracted the ARK file as unarchived).
	    
	    This error was difficult to track down and I must admit it took me a 
	    while before I was able to make out what was going on. 
	    
	    A patch has now been added, to avoid crashing the program. A warning 
	    will tell you you either have to rename the file or the directory, 
	    so as to solve the conflict. 
	    
6) 	    Avoid TIFILES Name while Importing and Extracting TIFILES
            =========================================================
            On Option (2,6) [Importing Files from DOS], if a DOS file with TIFILES 
            header gets imported with the "K" command (do away with the header 
            before importing) the TI Name suggested is always "TIFILES", literally, 
            which is not very helpful. 
            
            Fix: the DOS2I1.BAS file has been changed so as to make an exception 
            when that happens. Instead of the silly "TIFILES" name, the DOS 
            filename will be used to form the TI filename. That is allowed only 
            to the first file of a TIFILES DOS file. 
            
7)          Fix  Tunnel of Doom bug in Option 2.6, "Import disk image file" of TI99-PC
            ========================================================================== 
            A bug in Option 2.6, "Import DOS or ARK files to a TI99-PC disk image file" 
            of TI99-PC has been recently discovered by Jonathan Andersson. Tunnel of 
            Doom disk are not copied properly. 
            
            The bug occurs when importing program files or Dis/Fix files
            whose size *EXACTLY* fit in a TI99/4A sector (256 bytes). 
            In this case an extra sector, full of zeroes, will be added to 
            the file being created. Tunnel of Doom will not accept 
            a program file of a wrong length and will issue an error.
            
            Jonathan has been kind enough as to provide the fixed code himself.
            Thank you Jonathan!
            
                        

	WHAT'S NEW IN TI99-PC VERSION 2.2.2 WITH RESPECT TO VERSION 2.2.1
        =================================================================
	    Fixed TI99_PC.COM, the low-level I/O assembler program that 
	    reads/writes and formats a real TI-99/4A floppy on a PC.
	    
	    The bug : TI99_PC.COM old version formatted properly a DS/SD 80 track 
	    disk, but failed miserably when it came to setting the map of free/used 
	    sectors in sector zero. 
	    Thus, the formatted disk resulted in 719 Free and 721 Used sectors, 
            which was wrong. It should have had 1438 Free and 2 Used sectors. 
           
	    This problem arose when a new Eprom for Texas Instruments Single 
	    Density Floppy Disk Controller was released by Tony Knerr a while ago. 
	    It enabled 80 Track DS/SD disks (1440 sectors, 360 KB). 
	            
	
        WHAT'S NEW IN TI99-PC VERSION 2.2.1 WITH RESPECT TO VERSION 2.2.0
        =================================================================
1)          Total sectors count does not reset on Menu 1.7 
            ==============================================
            While in Menu 1.7 [Split a large disk image file (from opt. 1) 
            into smaller disk image files] the total count of selected files 
            does not properly reset once the splitting has been carried over. 
            Fixed on August 27, 2003 from a tip of Ben Yates. Thank you, Ben!
            Now the variable TotSizeFiles2Copy# = 0 is reset to zero every 
            time the splitting is started. 
            
        WHAT'S NEW IN TI99-PC VERSION 2.2.0 WITH RESPECT TO VERSION 2.0.4
        =================================================================
            
1)          New Option for ARK file while extracting 
            ========================================
            Menu 1.6, Extract (to DOS or ARK file) single TI-Files from 
            TI99-PC disk image file. - New Option, "Option X", added. Option
            X will extract, from an Image File, all the files belonging to 
            an ARK file. The extracted files will be placed to a new DOS 
            directory. The new DOS directory will be named after ARK 
            filename. 
            If several ARK files are contained in a single Image File, 
            this option will be very handy, because each ARK file will 
            create its new DOS directory, avoiding any possible confusion 
            and/or overwriting of files with the same name under different 
            ARK files. Use Menu 1.6, Option "X". 
   	    
2)          Corrected bugs 
            ==============
            Menu 2.6, Import Files from DOS or ARK files to a TI99-PC disk 
	    Menu 1.7, Split a large disk image file (from opt. 1) into 
	    smaller disk image files. Files DOS2I3.BAS and SPLITIM9.BAS. 
	    Corrected 2 similar bugs on each file. 
            
            1st bug: Only on 720 and 1440 KB disks. When normal disk area 
            was full and FDR area is used for storage, each new sector 
            forced a new entry in the CHAIN block. After a short time, the 
            CHAIN table was full, the FDR sector could not hold any 
            additional pointer and an error was issued. 
                        
            Reason: LeftOver% variable was wrongly reset to zero when 
            WriteChainPointers subroutine was called. 
            This forced a new sector search when GetAFreeSect routine was 
            invoked, which left the OldFreeSect% out of sync. The latter, 
            in turn, forced the closing of the current CHAIN, because
            OldFreeSect% was different from NewFreeSect% (see at 
            NextClusterPr: label). 
            Fix: LeftOver% must not be changed  by WriteChainPointers. 
            It will be reset anyhow when UTM% gets to zero (see at
            GetAFreeSect: .) [On SPLITIM9.BAS this variable is named 
            LeftOver2880%.]
            
            2nd bug: Only on 720 and 1440 KB disks. At GotFreeSec:, when a 
            new File is allocated and a new FDR was used, StillFree% (number
            of sectors still free) was decremented by 1 only, even with 720 
            and 1440 KB disks.  
            Fix: StillFree% is further decremented by 1 with 720 disks and 
            by 3 with 1440 KB disks at GotFreeSec:. 
           
3) 	    Changed timing in low level I/O sector routines
            ===============================================
            Restored original wait routines in "wait0" and "wait1". They 
            were modified shortly after I had started working on the low 
            level I/O assembler code, at the very beginning of the 
            development of TI99-PC, hoping to avoid the problems 
            encountered while trying to read some old TI disks formatted 
            with Ottawa UG Disk Manager 1000 and similar programs. 
            
            They were made more "aggressive": instead of waiting a keyboard 
            refresh (15.09 microseconds) before attempting a new I/O port 
            read, the routine would keep on reading the I/O port 
            continuously. 
            I don't think it helped any and, recently, a sustained 5.25" 
            floppy disk driver failure rate (dead drive) while reading bad 
            disks gave me the idea that, maybe, the drive doesn't like to 
            be accessed so often either. Besides, Andy Becker already 
            suggested that my modification wasn't of any help and I must 
            agree with him. 



